Service-oriented architectures -- a collection of services able to communicate with each other -- should see an unprecedented level of deployment in 2005. In fact, the latest Yankee Group analysis projects that North American spending for SOA-related software and services will reach $3 billion this year. That's up from around $2.25 billion last year.

The overarching reasons for this spike in enterprise SOA spending are a growing realization that enterprise services need to be combined for maximum efficiency, the arrival of solutions to make that happen, and the realization on the part of I.T. managers that the business outlook is positive enough to justify SOA expenditures.